The United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit issued its opinion on June 19, 2017 upholding the lower court decision that found the Texas specialization rule to be unconstitutional. As a result, the State of Texas, as well as Louisiana and Mississippi (part of the Fifth Circuit) are enjoined from enforcing provisions that prohibit dentists from advertising as specialists in areas that the American Dental Association (ADA) does not recognize as specialties.

The Federal District Court in Texas ruled that this "is an unconstitutional restriction on Plaintiff's First Amendment right to free commercial speech." The Court of Appeals affirmed the lower court decision by a 2 - 1 majority.